Fall From Grace
by Tony J. Hall
Summary: ON HIATUS - A/U: Having defeated Aizen at the cost of his own powers saving the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo and the world of the living from his tyranny, Ichigo has been abandoned by the Soul Society and is looked at with disgust from those he once held dear because of the monster in his soul. Will Ichigo turn against his former allies, or find new allies in unlikely places?
1. The Return Part 1

A/N: I know it says in the summary that it's alternate universe, but would **really** like to stress that fact, the personalities and actions of the characters are a far cry from what they are in official canon and if you dislike deviations in character personality this story will likely not be suited to your tastes.

_**All bold and italic text is a flashback or memory**_.

**P.S.** This is my first fan fiction for Bleach, and my first in nearly a year, having written several stories of an explicit/adult nature for a website I won't name here over the past few months I don't feel I'm _too_ rusty in my story telling ability (or lack thereof) so I hope I did at least an okay job. Please let me know what you think. More chapters to come, hopefully, if no one forms an angry mob to chase me off the internet with pitchforks and torches in hand. So without further ado, I present _Fall From Grace_ chapter 1.

* * *

Five years, exactly five years to the day since the orange haired shinigami daiko had stopped the treacherous Sosuke Aizen from wreaking havoc in three separate dimensions. Now at the age of twenty years, Ichigo Kurosaki was begrudgingly living the life of an ordinary human since losing his powers as a soul reaper at the conclusion of the Winter War. Ichigo's power as a shinigami may have vanished but his inner hollow was alive and well, a fact Karakura town and it's inhabitants learned the hard way one month following Aizen's defeat.

* * *

_**"Wake up sleepy head," A voice called out from somewhere within Ichigo's subconscious. "You haven't forgotten about me have you, Kingy? I think you've slept long enough, time to have some fun."**_

_**Ichigo suddenly returned to reality with a gasp and labored breathing as the maniacal laughter faded, startling his younger twin sisters who had been watching over him at the time only to be pulled forcefully into his inner world by the alternate version of himself.**_

_**"Well look who finally decided to join me, I wasn't sure you were going to come around this time. You know I've been stuck in here for weeks with nothing to do, I think it's time you let me out to get some fresh air."**_

_**"Tch, like I'd ever agree to that," Ichigo returned, not wanting to deal with this white lunatic at the current time.**_

_**"It wasn't a request. Without your power you're helpless, you couldn't stop me even if you tried. I told you that I'd have your body once you messed up and you just made the biggest mistake of your life," Ichigo's eyes widened momentarily as his hollow put on a grin that threatened to split his head in two and produced a wakizashi from thin air before lunging forward to drive the blade into Ichigo's midsection.**_

_**Reeling from the shock, Ichigo stood there helpless for a few moments before slumping to his knees, and falling to the ground completely.**_

_**Back in the world of the living, a massive surge of reiatsu from Ichigo's body, now sporting a hole in the center of his chest knocked the twins back several feet and rendered them unconscious as a white substance began to manifest itself from the newly formed hollow hole, mouth and eyes beginning the transformation.**_

_**As the reiatsu surged once more Isshin Kurosaki had separated from his gigai, sensing his son's spiritual pressure had grown dark and heavy with malicious intent, rushed to Ichigo's room to find a figure standing in the middle of the room with long orange hair and white skin with crimson fur around it's wrists, ankles and collar bone in addition to a white mask with two horns protruding from either temple, sporting thick crimson streaks running vertical over each eye.**_

_**Instinctively reaching for Engetsu's hilt as the hollow let out a bestial roar, hesitating to draw a blade against his own son for an instant, Isshin drew the katana from it's sheath to defend against a crimson cero aimed directly at him.**_

_**After the dust had settled Isshin found that the hollow was gone, as was most of the second floor of the Kurosaki residence.**_

_**The rampaging hollow continued to sow destruction and mayhem throughout the town for nearly thirty minutes until Kisuke Uruhara and Tessai were able to subdue the creature with high level bakudo spells while Isshin had tried to keep it busy.**_

_**Ichigo, having only passed out from the initial shock of his injury in the inner world, regained consciousness and control over his body three hours later in the training grounds under Uruhara's shop all the while having been pinned by the three ex-captains.**_

* * *

Karin and Yuzu were a little fuzzy in the memory department about the whole debacle, Ichigo himself was as well until he came to the next day and was told with excruciating detail what had happened by Kisuke. Isshin had acted no differently after the incident, knowing full well how dangerous a shinigami's inner hollow could be after finding out what had happened to Shinji Hirako, Kensei Muguruma and the rest of the Vizards, now that Ichigo had lost his abilities as a soul reaper the hollow became that much more volatile, and dangerous. The twins on the other hand weren't so quick to forget, they loved their brother dearly but fooled but no one in trying to hide their fear of the monster living inside him, waiting for the first possible chance to get out and hurt the ones Ichigo cared about most, or worse, kill them.

Ichigo had, with the help of Kisuke, the Vizards and the Hogyoku, having been recovered from Aizen, been able to tame the hollow a second time, and been able to keep it that way ever since, only momentarily having minor issues, such as his eyes changing color to yellow and black for a few seconds in fits of anger, needless to say that often sufficiently freaked out people to the point where Ichigo didn't make new friends easily, or at all for the rest of high school earning the nickname Ma Shounen until graduation.

When news of Ichigo's little outburst had traveled to the Seireitei, Rukia had requested permission to travel to the world of the living despite being nearly overwhelmed by her duties as the new lieutenant of the thirteenth division but was expressly forbade from having any contact with the ex-shinigami daiko by the Head Captain.

Abandoned by the Soul Society, kept at a safe distance by Uryuu, Orihime, Chad, his former class mates and even his childhood friend, Tatsuki. Ichigo even felt unwelcome in his own home, his sisters never having changed their attitude following the event, now sixteen and attending highschool. Ichigo had failed the entrance exam for several universities and had been getting increasingly fed up with the way things turned out, despite having regained the ability to see and interact with the spiritual world some months ago. Whenever he ran into a hollow they seemed to just pass him over, some he even thought appeared to be afraid of the orange haired human.

Suddenly snapped out of his reminiscing of unpleasant memories by colliding with someone else on the sidewalk, Ichigo grunted having knocked both of them down.

"Hey, why don't you watch where the hell you're go-" Ichigo froze, mid-syllable upon seeing who he had run into.

"Nel?"

* * *

**_Quick notes about the chapter;_ **

According to Google Translate, "Ma Shounen" roughly means "Devil Boy" or "Demon Boy".  
A wakizashi is a Japanese sword with a blade anywhere from 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 centimetres) long, think of a small katana.  
Engetsu is the name of Isshin Kurosaki's zanpakuto, it means Scathing Moon. Similar to Ichigo's Zangetsu, meaning Slaying Moon, and no I did not make that up, it's official canon and can be found on the Bleach wiki.


	2. The Return Part 2

A/N: I wanted this chapter to be longer, it's behind the first by about 300 words, but I couldn't really put any more in and make it fit, with the current scene. Things will start picking up soon, stepping a little into the action I have mapped out in my head and get the proverbial ball rolling a bit.

I'm a little shaky when it comes to dialogue, so I feel like a kind of botched the first half of this chapter before getting my bearings. Please R&R, let me know what you think.

* * *

He had to be seeing things, he'd finally gone off the deep end and his own subconscious was mocking him for it. There was no way the green haired arrancar would be in the world of the living, certainly not in her adult form, last time Ichigo saw her she'd suddenly turned back into a child in the midst of a battle.

"Ichigo!" Nel yelped with joy, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Before the human could get a word out Ichigo was suddenly pulled into a hug threatening to break his spine akin to the one he got last time Nel had returned to original form.

"It's good to see you again too, Nel. But do you think you could let me go now? You're a lot stronger than you think you are," Ichigo pleaded through a wince, fearful of having his bones being crushed to dust.

Reluctant to let got, Nel finally released the poor man.

"What are you doing here Nel? Once the shinigami detect the reiatsu of an Espada in the world of the living there are going to have captains all over you."

"Don't worry, they haven't been able to get me before," Nel proudly announced, puffing out her chest in mock victory.

"Before? You mean this isn't the first time you came here?" Ichigo's interest now piqued, and somewhat worried about the woman in front of him.

"I came here five years ago, I saw what happened," Nel's voice trailing off almost in sorrow, as if she herself had been the perpetrator.

Ichigo paused for a moment, trying to avoid eye contact, "You should get back to Hueco Mundo before any soul reapers show up."

Nel could feel the cold hardness of his words, more of an order than a suggestion on his part.

"Ichigo wait, I can help you," Quickly interrupting as Ichigo tried to walk away.

The fiery headed human paid her no attention and just kept moving his feet, no particular destination in mind.

Following Ichigo, Nel continued to reason with the young adult, "I can feel your spiritual pressure, it's different than it was when we first met, it's darker and more evil than it ever was when you used your mask before and it's getting stronger. If you don't do something about it the next time you lose control it won't be so easy to stop you without killing you."

A sudden wave of reiatsu washed over Nel as Ichigo stopped in his tracks, it felt somewhat angry. As he turned to face the arrancar following him, Nel caught a glimpse of a black coloration creeping up his left eye, toward the iris before it suddenly stopped when meeting her gaze and subsided a moment later.

"How can you help me? I'm just a human now, it's not possible for me to train like I used to in order to control him anymore," Ichigo proclaimed with a sullen look.

"I'm a hollow, Ichigo, whether I look like a human or not and whether you want to admit it or not you're a hollow now too, your physical body is the only thing stopping your spiritual body from going completely berserk now that Zangetsu isn't there to help anymore."

"I see," Was the only response he could manage.

After a few more moments of pondering the human finally spoke up, "Fine, but you really should get back to Hueco Mundo before any soul reapers show up, I'm in no shape to help you fight them off."

"That's okay, when you went to go fight with Ulquiorra a big muscley guy gave me this to get me to stop crying when your reiastu vanished after you started fighting above Las Noches. He said I could use it in case I ever wanted to come see you," Nel stated while holding out an eyepatch.

Ichigo cocked an orange eyebrow at the thing, "Is that what I think it is?"

_Kenpachi you idiot._

As the green haired woman was about to put it on, Ichigo suddenly interrupted, "Nel wait, we don't know what that eyepatch will do to you, the crack in your mask is already messing with your reiryoku."

Completely disregarding the warning, Nel proceeded with putting on the leech.

_Poof._

Ichigo briefly pinched the bridge of his nose before reaching out into the puff of white smoke to catch Nel's child form before she fell to the ground.

"I was afraid this would happen. On the bright side nobody will be able to detect you now," Ichigo said before letting out a sigh.

"Nel is sorry, Nel should have listened to Ichigo."

Ichigo shook his head, "It's fine, but can you can't open a Garganta like this right?"

Nel just shook her head side to side.

With another sigh Ichigo gave up, "Fine," pausing as he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

Narrowing his eyes Ichigo caught sight of a silver haired man sporting a haori with a maroon lining and the words _juu_ and_ san_ in the middle of the back and a katana on his left side.

_Ukitake... Why send him of all people?_

The captain stopped in mid air, catching sight of the ex-shinigami daiko with a small child in his arms.

Ichigo shot the man a look, before leaving as the captain just glared back with almost a worried look on his face.

"Let's go back to my house, Nel. It looks like the Gotei Thirteen is already looking for you, we can hide you there while we figure out what to do about my hollow," Ichigo said in a hushed tone, finishing his earlier train of thought.

* * *

Things to note;

Juu is the pronunciation of the Japanese numeral for ten, and san is the pronunciation for the Japanese numeral for three, making one-three, or thirteen, as in squad thirteen. If the internet is to be believed, anyway. All 13 divisions use Japanese numerals on the Captain's haori, something which I'm fairly unfamiliar with.


	3. Sleeping Dogs

A/N: Firstly, please allow me to apologize **profusely** for how late this chapter is. Some things came up and I couldn't get on the internet for near a month, but I believe it worked out for the better as this chapter is both longer and I daresay better than the previous two, more refined and polished, and not rushed in the slightest.

* * *

Everyone froze, eyes wide, wondering if they'd gone insane. Ichigo Kurosaki, former substitute soul reaper, part time hollow, full time introvert and the biggest grouch on the block, was holding a sleeping child in his arms. Karin had noodles hanging out of her mouth still from the ramen she was eating, Isshin had been doing the dishes and Yuzu sat on the couch studying.

Yuzu was the first to speak up, "Oh wow Ichi-nii she's so cute!"

Truly an odd girl, her older brother comes home with a strange child wearing a skull mask on the top of her head and the first thing she notices is whether or not the child is cute.

Isshin was the next to chime in, "Oh my son, how wonderful! Where have you been hiding your daughter from us all this time?"

"Idiot, she's not my daughter. And she's a lot older than she looks," Ichigo scoffed at the idea, but he could tell it was only to keep up appearances in front of the twins. Not but moments earlier had their gazes met, Isshin had a serious look on his face, and an even more serious one in his eyes. He could have sworn he heard Karin utter the word 'pedophile' under her breath but paid it no mind.

Then it hit him, Yuzu could see the small arrancar.

Thoroughly surprised he began the interrogation, "Wait, you can see her, Yuzu?"

"Well yeah, of course I can. Is that strange?" The younger of the two twins returned, "And why does she have that eye patch on?"

"Oh," Ichigo said, more to himself than anyone else before reaching down to remove the piece of fabric.

_Poof._

Just as quickly as the woman had turned into a child, she transformed back into an adult with a puff of white smoke.

Eyes widened once more as a tall, well endowed and curvaceous woman stood next to their older brother, arm still unconsciously around her waist from when he'd been holding the green haired woman in her child form, realizing this but making no attempt to put a stop to it, Nel's cheeks heated up and took on a slightly pink tint, thankfully hidden by the crimson line on her face.

If Ichigo surprised his sisters any more their eyeballs might just pop right out their heads.

"This is Nelliel, she's my friend," Ichigo paused before remembering something, "And yes, it is weird that you can see her," His gaze now falling to Yuzu, "Nel isn't human, she's a spiritual being."

This time instead of bulging eyes, eyebrows became upwardly inclined in confusion as they saw the sword in her left hand.

"She doesn't look like a soul reaper," Karin offered, now thinking her older brother was a pervert instead of a pedophile for binging home women barely wearing anything at all.

Nel had spoken up before Ichigo could formulate a reply, "I'm an arrancar."

_Shit. Why did you have to go and tell them the truth?_

"What's that?" Yuzu asked, interest piqued.

Without missing a beat for the second time Nel got the drop on the orange haired human again, "It means I used to be a hollow and-"

Muffled protestations coming from the woman as Ichigo's hand had secured itself over her mouth in an attempt to silence the woman, however it was too little too late as the twins tensed up at the word 'hollow' knowing full well now this strange woman could potentially become as dangerous and violent as the man standing next to her at the drop of a hat.

Isshin now out of his gigai, attracted the attention of Nel, seeing the black garments and white haori draped over the man's left shoulder as she reached for the hilt of Gamuza. Isshin realizing this flash stepped over and in an instant had the tip of Engetsu at the woman's throat, hand mere inches away from her own sword.

Nel met the eldest Kurosaki's glare with one of equal intensity, before grinning slightly and using Sonido to turn the tables, Isshin caught of a glimpse of a large number three tattooed on the woman's back before raising his zanpakuto to defend against the other sword being mercilessly brought down on him.

"Wait!" Ichigo shouted as metal collided with metal and sparks flew, trying to prevent things from getting messy, "I said she's my friend, Nel isn't like the rest of Aizen's Espada, she helped me out in Hueco Mundo and even protected me against one of the other Espada."

Isshin glanced from his son back to the woman who was clearly shooting to kill, narrowing his eyes, swords still struggling against one another.

"It's true, I was betrayed and forgotten. I swore to never follow that monster again and spent years hiding," Nel offered, still unwilling to let her opponent off the hook.

"Very well, if Ichigo trusts you I will not argue," The shinigami relaxed and withdrew his weapon before sliding it back into it's sheath, as the emerald haired woman mirrored those actions.

Ichigo let out a sigh, as they were all suddenly reminded they weren't the only three in the room.

"Dad?" Karin asked, nervousness with a hint of curiousness in her voice, "You're a soul reaper too?"

Yuzu was nowhere to be found, most likely having fled to her room at the mention of hollows and the ensuing violence.

Isshin said nothing as he walked back over to slip into the gigai once more.

"I guess I owe you an explanation," The goofy lunatic that was her father gone for the moment, adjusting the body for comfort.

As the eldest Kurosaki sat down at the table Ichigo turned his attention back to Nel, "Come on, I've had about all the fun I can handle for one afternoon."

Ichigo indignantly murmuring something to himself, waved Nel to follow him as they both ascended the stairs toward his room.

Once inside with the door closed Nel turned to Ichigo, concern written all over her face.

"What is it?" Questioned the young man.

"I was just wondering, why did you take off the eye patch? Won't there be soul reapers coming for me again now?"

Having realized he forgot to mention it, Ichigo offered up an explanation, "Nah, after what happened last time Dad put up a barrier around the house to keep anybody on the outside from sensing any spiritual pressure from inside. Gramps sent over his lieutenant to lecture the old man about keeping my reiatsu contained the next time if something happened again. Apparently they had alarms going off left and right in the Soul Society."

Ichigo let out a small chuckle as the former Espada just furrowed her brow.

Straightening up and putting on a serious expression, Ichigo recalled what Nel had said earlier.

"You told me you could help me with my, er, problem," Not wanting to acknowledge the beast in his soul, "How do we do that?"

"You have to fight him, defeat your inner hollow and-" Nel was suddenly interrupted by an annoyed Ichigo.

"I've already done that, twice. Kicking his ass is only a temporary fix before he tries taking over my body again."

Nel, now the irritated one shot back a glance before continuing.

"I was going to say you have to defeat him, and then accept him, merging into one entity. When you merge, if your will can overpower his you will be the dominant personality when the process is complete."

"I get the feeling there's a catch," Ichigo said, slightly apprehensive of the proposal.

"There is, while you'll gain control permanently, you have to die first. If you attempt to merge while still human you'll be over powered almost instantly and there will be no helping you then, you will become a mindless killing machine and we'll have no choice but to put you down. Also as a byproduct you will become an arrancar, the merging process will completely turn you into a hollow and if you win out the struggle and remove the mask, you will become just like me."

Nel took a breath after her mini-speech and gripped her zanpakuto as soon as the last few words left her mouth.

Nel's matter-of-fact tone was slightly disconcerting to Ichigo. Die? Become a hollow completely? Was she insane or just screwing with him? Or did she simple not care what became of him?

"Absolutely not," Ichigo stated firmly after collecting his thoughts, "Besides, I couldn't win that battle even if I wanted to. I have no powers remember?"

"You have more than you think. How were you over powered the last time you underwent a total possession?" Nel asked, seeming to know more than she was letting on.

"He pulled me into my inner world, then materialized a sword out of nowhere and stabbed me with it."

"And you didn't think that odd? He has the same abilities you do, you told me before that the first time you had trained to gain control of the hollow inside you he mirrored your ever move, fighting you with your own bankai,"

Ichigo suddenly realizing something, perked up in an instant, "You mean he attacked me with my own blade that last time?"

"Exactly, Ichigo. You're already on your way to following through with what I said earlier whether you realize it or not, the only difference is when the time comes you won't win the struggle for control and will turn into a beast unless you willingly initiate the process and fight with everything you have."

_Oi, Kingy. You're not going to listen to this broad are you? There's no way a mere human could become an arrancar and you don't stand a chance in a fight against me. Maybe I should just take over your body now and teach her a lesson in respect._

"Shut up," The fiery headed human had accidentally shouted his thoughts out loud.

"Ichigo?" Nel questioned as the blackness began to creep up his eyes again.

Ichigo grabbed his head, gripping his orange locks and yelling again, "I'm not letting you out!"

_You can't stop me._

The maniacal laughter in Ichigo's subconscious now becoming audible as a mask began forming around his right eye.

"Ichigo!" Nel shouted as if to snap him out of a hallucination, reflexively grabbing the hilt of her sword.

"Sorry to disappoint, Ichigo is indisposed at the moment. Can I take a message?" Ichigo's voice, now with the distinct echo, asked rhetorically as a wakizashi with a hilt wrapped in crimson silk, an oval shaped bronze tsuba with intricate tribal engravings and a short length of black chain hanging off the kashira materialized out of thin air.

"Bakudo number sixty-one, Rikujokoro," A voice said from just outside the open window, binding the hollow possessed Ichigo and confusing the beast for long enough to allow Ichigo to regain control.

Ichigo turned to the source of the binding spell to find a nobleman in a haori with cobalt blue lining, the official color of the squad six.

_Well I guess I was wrong about that barrier still being there. Perfect._

"Byakuya," The immobilized Ichigo struggling against his restraints as a familiar face flash stepped into view just behind the Kuchiki and off to his right.

"Toshirou? What are you two doing here?" Ichigo asked, confused, and still squirming.

"That's Captain Hitsu-" Captain Kuchiki help up a hand to silence his young comrade not wishing to hear him repeat the same line another time.

"We received reports of an an arrancar with Espada level reiryoku and we were sent to deal with it." The stoic noble explained.

"What about Ukitake-taichou? I saw him earlier."

"He was merely investigating the initial report," The elder captain went on before shifting his gaze to the other occupant in the room, "I gather from that woman's appearance she is indeed the source of the offending spiritual pressure?"

"Nel's a friend, she's not like the rest of the Espada," Ichigo explained for the second time this hour, "And would you let me out of this damn kido?"

The light binding the human vanished, allowing free movement once again.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

As usual the captain was uninterested in anything he young Kurosaki had to say.

Nel used Sonido to exit the room to avoid Ichigo inadvertently getting hurt by the billions of cherry blossom blades, moving with speed sufficient to surprise the exceptionally skilled shunpo master.

As the two captains pursued the fleeing arrancar to the street infront of the Kurosaki clinic, the cherry blossom blades attempted to strike their target, missing as Nel sidestepped at the last moment.

"Damn it," Ichigo muttered as he scrambled out of the room, running down the stairs and out the front door, ignoring the bewildered duo sitting at the table and arriving just in time to see the captains get ready to attack.

Nel looked to her right, to see the boy slump down, hands on his knees breathing slightly heavier than normal.

Byakuya took the opening and sent the tiny blades in for the kill as the younger of the two captains flash stepped out of sight.

Realizing her vulnerability, Nel barely had time to counter with a violet colored cero as the blades moved to defend against the counterattack.

Ichigo could feel the other him creeping back into his mind as the mask began to reform in the same spot as before. Just then the young silver haired shinigami came into view behind the emerald haired woman, zanpakuto ready to strike leaving her no room to defend.

Realizing what was about to happen Ichigo mustered everything he had, moving with blinding speed and appearing directly in front of the young captain, slapping away his sword arm and forming his right hand into a fist before bringing it up to catch Toshirou in the gut, a burst of crimson spiritual pressure exploding out of Ichigo's hand on contact, sending the captain hurtling backwards over a hundred meters and knocking the wind out of him.

"Ichigo," Nel's voice laden with surprise, "Was that-"

The hollow possessed man erupted into a fit of rage, turning sharply and violently grabbing the woman before him by the throat with overwhelming fury in his eyes.

"You idiot! What were you thinking attacking two captains at the same time? You could have gotten us both killed!" Ichigo barked as more of the mask began to manifest on his face, the distinct echo in his voice.

After thirty seconds of silence his grip tightened around Nel's neck, hoisting her of the ground effortlessly while she grasped at his forearm in futility.

Toshirou having recovered from the surprise attack rejoined his partner, looked at the scene before him with confusion and intruigue as the raven haired captain stood here stoic as ever, body language not betraying his thoughts.

"Ichi...go," Nel struggled against the death grip to no avail, "please..."

Ichigo finally coming to his senses as her voice trailed off and the grip on his forearms loosened, let go of her immediately as Nel dropped back to the ground collapsing to her hands an knees in a coughing fit.

"Nel... I'm so sorry." Ichigo offered, voice full of fear at what he'd just done to his only remaining friend as the mask disappeared in an instant.

Kneeling down in front of the woman who was still wheezing as she looked up at the man who has just moments ago, fully intended to kill her. Nel looked up and examined his face before getting up to pull him into a hug, eyes shut tight trying to hold back tears.

"It's okay, Ichi. I know it's not your fault so please don't blame yourself," She cooed gently while stroking the back of his head.

The two captains who had watched the whole incident in bewilderment and exchanged a look before retreating into a newly opened Senkaimon directly behind them.

* * *

**_Terminology and translation notes;_**

* The tsuba is the blade guard, located at the top of the hilt but before the blade itself.  
* The kashira is the very end (also known as the pommel, or butt-cap) of the hilt.


	4. Plan A

Upon arriving back in the Soul Society Captains Kuchiki and Hitsugaya were greeted by a member of the Stealth Force, the man clad in all black with a mask had appeared almost the instant the two captains had stepped out of the Senkaimon.

"Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Kuchiki, Yamamoto-soutaichou orders you report to him immediately," And with that, the man had gone as quickly as he appeared.

Briefly nodding to eachother, the captains flash stepped their way to the first division to be ushered in to the Head Captain's office as soon as they'd arrived. No one said anything to either of them but it must be urgent if the debriefing is being hurried along at this pace.

"Reporting as ordered, sir," Toshirou was the first to speak, standing beside his raven haired comrade.

An elderly man spun around in his chair, cane in hand, and spoke with a deep, harsh voice befitting one of his advanced age, "I trust your mission was a success?"

"It is as Captain Kurotsuchi's reports said, Kurosaki does indeed appear to be losing control at a rapid pace and he appears to be more dangerous than before," Byakuya the first to offer an explanation, "Kurosaki was able successfully counterattack Hitsugaya-taichou and easily overpowered an arrancar while nearly killing the woman with his bare hands, all while under only a partial possession."

The Head Captain raised an overgrown eyebrow in intrigue at the word 'arrancar'.

"The Espada's spiritual pressure that the Twelfth Division detected was there for Kurosaki as well?"

The silver haired captain, seemingly taking turns retelling the story was the next to chime in, "Yes sir, she appeared to be the former Tres Espada, I noticed a large number three tattooed on her back when I went in to strike, not unlike the other female Espada I fought against during Aizen's invasion of the world of the living five years ago."

"So then she was there to take revenge for Kurosaki's defeat of Aizen?" Yamamoto now sufficiently interested in the whole ordeal, no one had expected this.

"I don't believe that is the case. Like I said, I surmise that she was formerly an Espada, having held the position before the one I fought against. She and Kurosaki appeared to be on a first name basis, he referred to the woman as 'Nel', from the looks of things they seemed to be friends."

"This woman may be trying to turn the former shinigami daiko against the Soul Society. She spoke of allowing Kurosaki to control his inner hollow at the cost of the man turning into an arrancar himself," Byakuya added on to his partner's statement.

"I disagree Captain Kuchiki, the way she spoke of the matter there appeared to be genuine concern for Kurosaki's well-being, you saw what happened just before we retreated. I don't believe this woman is using the human, she seems to have other motives that have noting to do with us."

Yamamoto interrupted the young captain before any bickering could start, "Regardless of this woman's presence or her motives we cannot allow Kurosaki to lose control of his powers or we will have a disaster on our hands, and should he tame the beast in his soul it is possible that the boy might rebel against the Soul Society, he already believes we abandoned him after the war and has held a grudge for the past five years because of it."

"What would you have us do Head Captain, sir?" Toshirou asked.

"Nothing at the moment, both of you retrieve your lieutenants and report to the first division barracks in three hours, we will convene an emergency captain's meeting to discuss the state of affairs."

With that, the two reporting captains bowed and exited the room with new orders, unsure of what was to come.

* * *

"Nel, I still don't think this is a good idea," Ichigo grumbled, having not had a moment of peace about taming his inner hollow since the incident in front of the clinic almost three hours ago.

Nel, now wearing thin on patience was scowling at the stubborn human, "Do you have a better plan? You attacked a captain and nearly killed me during only a partial possession. Do you have any idea what kind of disaster is going to happen if you can't get yourself under control the next time? Plus I don't think the soul reapers are going to take this lying down, they're probably going to come after the both of us now, you shinigami attack first and ask questions later."

"_We_ shinigami?" Now with a look of contempt on his face, Ichigo was beginning to get annoyed with this green haired woman, "I'm not a soul reaper anymore remember? I thought that was the whole reason you're even here. And don't lump me in with them, they turned a cold shoulder after I nearly got myself killed doing their dirty work."

"Sorry..."

"Look," Ichigo said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I don't have a better idea, and I don't want this guy to get out any more than you or anyone else does, but willingly letting him take over so I can try to best him later doesn't sound any better. It's like asking for something to go wrong."

Nel frowned, clearly it would be difficult to talk some sense in this bull-headed man than she originally thought.

"But, Ichi..."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Sorry, do you not like it?" Nel asked while poking her index fingers together in front of her chest in embarrassment.

"No, I guess it's fine. Anyway couldn't we just use the hogyoku? That's how Aizen turned you into an arrancar from being just an ordinary hollow."

"Absolutely not!" Nel didn't even give it any consideration, as far as she was concerned that tiny ball of misery was better off never having existed in the first place, "Besides, I was a Vasto Lorde before, the process is different for different types of hollows. Vasto Lorde and Adjucha type Menos Grande usually have high success rates for getting turned into arrancar, Gillians aren't so lucky and regular hollows have nearly a one hundred percent failure rate. Your hollow is certainly much more powerful than any Vasto Lorde in Hueco Mundo, but it's still only a regular hollow, it knows nothing but violence and it's desire to kill."

Ichigo violently tousled his fiery locks in frustration.

"All right, fine. I guess I have no other choice, we'll do it your way. How exactly am I supposed to go about this though?"

Nel's face light up in an instant, "We have to separate your soul from your body and then sever your Chain of Fate, and then we wait out the encroachment. Only this time since you already have a hollow it will happen much more quickly."

"But couldn't I just go back to being a Vizard instead? That's how I got my soul reaper abilities back the last time," Ichigo was beginning to think Nel didn't know what she was talking about.

"No, you can't. Last time you didn't have a hollow living in your soul so it allowed your sword spirit to come back to you, I doubt your hollow is just going to sit back and let that happen. Which is why you will need to fight him, and when that happens you will get a new zankaputo, it will likely be similar to Zangetsu but you won't be a shinigami when the process is complete so I doubt the same spirit would come back to you."

Ichigo stood reluctantly and worked his shoulders as though he were preparing for a fist fight, "Hmph, fine let's just get this over with."

"What are you crazy? We can't do that here. The reiatsu you'll be putting out during the process would cause serious damage to this world, not to mention you'll be running wild until you win the struggle for control. Hueco Mundo is the best place to be when that happens."

"I guess," Was all Ichigo could manage, truth be told he hadn't considered all the implications, all he know is he still thought this was a terrible idea and just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

Nel narrowed her eyes at the boy, "You had better go talk to your family, you may never see them again once we leave."

"Why bother, they won't miss me. The old man might but I'm sure Karin and Yuzu would be glad to be rid of me," Ichigo's expression now darker than it had been moment's ago.

"If you're sure. I'll leave you to prepare then, we should head out within the hour. The sooner the better, I have a bad feeling."

* * *

The captains and lieutenants were chattering amongst themselves to pass the time while sitting at a large conference table, waiting for the Head Captain to arrive. For someone who had sent out Hell Butterflies summoning everyone for an urgent meeting he sure didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

Just as the patience was beginning to wear thin, the double doors to the room parted and Yamamoto strode in, Lieutenant Sasakibe in tow. Silence befell the room as the elderly shinigami made his way to the seat at the head of the table.

"I apologize for my tardiness, now to the matter at hand," The Head Captain spoke as he was taking his seat, "It has come to my attention that Ichigo Kurosaki is now a threat to the Soul Society as well as the world of the living."

Hushed murmurs began once more, the high ranking officers whispering between each other.

Yamamoto held up a hand to silence them.

"If Kurosaki is not dealt with at the soonest possible opportunity, I fear he will cause a catastrophe the likes of which none of you have ever seen," Yamamoto continued.

"What do you mean 'dealt with', Yamamoto-soutaichou?" Ukitake was the first to speak up.

"We have no other option at this point, we must execute the boy and destroy his soul completely."

The Head Captain spoke as though the matter were no more serious than taking out the garbage. The room was in absolute silence, the drop of a pin would be the loudest noise in the Soul Society right now, eyes remained fixed on the veteran soul reaper some wide with shock, others wondering if they'd heard correctly.

Rukia was, needless to say, the most affected by this news, the look on her face was as though someone had just killed everyone she'd everyone cared about before her very eyes. But she remained silent, not wanting to cause a disruption. Yamamoto simply raised a bushy white eyebrow at the petite lieutenant before continuing.

"The commander of the Stealth Force will lead the operation, she will attempt to carry out the mission quickly and quietly. In the event she is unsuccessful we will have no choice but to meet Kurosaki with lethal force."

The Head Captain drew a breath, while scanning the room to watch for his subordinates' reactions.

"If we must resort to plan B, Captain Kurotsuchi and the rest of the Twelfth Division will provide logistical support while captains Kuchiki, Hitsugaya and Komomura will lead the assault, lieutenants Matsumoto, Hinamori and Hisagi will provide backup. Captain Unohana please be ready with Squad Four's best medics if there are any issues."

Unohana simply nodded as a man straight blond hair slammed a fist down on the table and stood up, shouting at the Head Captain.

"Have you gone insane? Sending six high ranking officers on an assassination mission of a human, the same human that saved us all from Aizen's insanity no less, that is absurd. Ichigo is no more dangerous than myself!"

"Calm yourself Captain Hirako, I understand you feel a kinship with the boy, but the fact remains that Kurosaki is very much a danger. Lieutenants Abarai and Kuchiki as well as the Vizards will remain in the soul society and are forbidden from having any contact with Kurosaki, to do otherwise will be considered an act of treason. Everyone who is going to the world of the living is to gather at the Senkaimon in exactly ten minutes. Captain Hitsugaya also reports there is a former Espada taking up residence with the boy, you are to dispose of her as well in any way that you see fit."

Yamamoto took one last look at the gathered officers, all had sullen looks, or were still trying to wrap their heads around what just happened.

"Dismissed," The Head Captain finally said before tapping his cane on the ground, signaling the end of the meeting.

Rukia and Renji shared a look that didn't go unnoticed by the Vizards before all of them flash stepped out of the room. Yamamoto merely shook his head.

The group gathered outside of the First Division barracks.

"Rukia, you're not seriously planning what I think you are?" Renji questioned as the Vizards walked closely behind.

"You bet I am, ever since Ichigo sacrificed his own powers to save us all no one has even thought to acknowledge him and every time I put in a request for leave to the world of the living I get a door slammed in my face. I'm tired of all this, if they won't help him I will."

"I'm with her," Hiyori stated.

"Me too," Lisa was the next to speak up.

The rest of the Vizards just nodded.

"But Rukia, you heard what the old man said, we'll all be executed if we leave."

The Kuchiki princess scowled, "Then stay here if you're afraid to die for your best friend, Renji. There's no room for cowards in this situation."

"Like hell, I'm not letting you go alone."

Rukia stopped walking and turned to look at her entourage, "Then we're all in agreement?"

Everyone merely gave a stern nod, and with that hey took off to the Senkaimon ahead of those assigned to the mission.


	5. Plan B

**A/N:** And here we are, chapter 5. Just with the previous two I had this one written weeks ago. I spent all morning polishing this one and the previous chapter to get it ready to ship. Chapter 6 will be along within the week, it's mostly written but I don't feel it's very good so I'm going to spend some time revisiting it, retooling things to get it right.

* * *

Rukia, Renji and the Vizards arrived in Karakura town. The journey through the precipice world appears to have taken longer than anticipated but they still seemed to be ahead of schedule, there was no sign of the captains or lieutenants assigned to the assassination mission. The group was standing in mid-air, overlooking the whole town at sunset.

"Does anybody sense Ichigo's spiritual pressue? We don't have long before everyone else gets here," Rukia said.

Renji was the first to answer, "I feel something, it's powerful but it doesn't feel like Ichigo. It feels more like an Espada's reiatsu, no wait make that two Espada."

"Two? I thought there was only one. Even so, what are they doing here of all places?" Rukia seemed a little baffled. It certainly looked like Karakura, but did they take a wrong turn somewhere and end up in Hueco Mundo?

"Isn't that him down there?" Shinji pointed down to the street in front of the Kurosaki clinic.

Everyone's gazes dropped not to the fiery headed human male, but the woman beside him.

"That woman is definitely one of the people I sensed earlier," Renji offered.

Hiyori was the next to chime in, "Then where's the other Espada?"

Rukia's gaze was fixed at the duo on the ground, her voice almost inaudible as if she were speaking to herself, "It's coming from Ichigo..."

The rest of the crew just exchanged looks before flash stepping down to the pair walking up the street.

Ichigo caught sight of black blur with a bright red streak before it came into focus, although the premonition did nothing to lessen the surprise.

"Renji?" Ichigo questioned.

Renji held up a hand in a half sincere greeting, "Hey, Ichigo. Long time no see huh?"

Just then the rest of the rule-breakers came into view. Ichigo looked around, seeing all familiar faces. He hadn't the slightest clue what was going on, he thought the Soul Society forgot about him a long time ago.

Before Ichigo could get his thoughts in order Nel drew her zanpakuto from it's sheath and prepared to strike. Ichigo simply laid a hand on her shoulder to stop the woman from causing scene, "They're friends, at least I think they still are. I haven't got a clue why they're here."

"What do you want?" Ichigo shifted his gaze to the surprised visitors.

Rukia, ignoring the question returned one of her own while pointing to Nel, "Who's this?"

"Her name is Nel, she's my friend. Before you ask yes she's an arrancar and the former third Espada. But that still doesn't answer my question," Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration having explained the emerald haired woman's existence for what felt like the ninetieth time today.

"We came to warn you," Renji offered while Rukia studied this unknown woman, "Yamamoto-soutaichou ordered a, er well, he sent a bunch of captains and lieutenants to kill you."

Nel caught a glimpse of shimmering gold and a black streak coming for Ichigo while he still tried to collect himself after the metaphorical ton of bricks that had just been dumped on his head not moments ago. Before Nel could react a black butterfly appeared on Ichigo's chest, marking Suzumebachi's next victim. The gold and black blur made a dash once more, this time Nel pushed Ichigo out of the way, catching the second strike on her left bicep.

"Shit, looks like we cut it a little too close," Shinji said under his breath.

Soi Fon appeared about a hundred feet away, standing in mid air about a meter off the ground.

When Ichigo looked over and saw the mark on Nel's arm, recognizing it as belonging to Stealth Force Commander's zanpakuto. Ichigo's eyes darkened, irises taking on a yellow coloration with a partial mask manifesting itself over the lower portion his face, covering the mouth and jaw.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

"Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru."

"Roar, Tenken."

"Growl, Heinako."

"Reap, Kazeshini."

"Snap, Tobiume."

Voices called out from all around, as the crew on the ground looked up, they realized they've been surrounded.

"Damn, they're not kidding around," Renji said while placing a hand on Zabimaru's hilt. Everyone scattered as a cloud of pink microscopic blades came crashing down, Ichigo having been picked up and carried off by Nel.

More of Ichigo's mask manifested itself on his face, leaving only the left eye and left side of the forehead uncovered. As he got out of Nel's arms Ichigo simply growled, the distinct warble of his hollow's voice making it sound all the more menacing. Just then a small ice dragon was sent his way, Ichigo vanished in a flash using Sonido, getting the drop on the young silver haired captain again, releasing another crimson burst of reiatsu into his gut.

As the young captain when flying an ethereal arm holding a giant sword came down and swatted him out of the sky as though Ichigo were not but an insect. After regaining his bearings Ichigo vanished in a flash once again only to be blocked by the same large sword.

The cherry blossom blades swooped in for another attack.

"Roar, Zabimaru," A man's voice called out as his blade extended to wrap around Ichigo's midsection to pull him out of the path of certain death.

Ichigo shouted in frustration as the last of his face was covered by a white mask. Holding up his hand, palm open and facing the captains, Ichigo began to gather a crimson light in his hand. Senbonzakura and Heinako moved to defend as many of the shinigami as they could manage.

The blast was still too powerful as the captains and lieutenants when skidding backward.

Distracted by the mitigation of his cero, Ichigo failed to notice a double sided scythe on a chain flying at his back, before anyone could react it cut a deep wound diagonal from should to waist as more cherry blossom blades swooped down along side a small ice dragon.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki. Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." A woman's voice called out to freeze the pink flecks as Nel jumped to defend against Hyorinmaru only to be hit by Tenken's large ethereal sword. The Vizards broke off to engage separate targets as the ice dragon struck Ichigo's forearms which had be brought up infront of his chest in an X shape.

Just as Toshirou withdrew his zanpakuto a fireball courtesy of Tobiume struck Ichigo and exploded.

"Ichigo!" Nel called in chorus with the Kurosaki twins who had rushed out of the house at the sound of fighting. Everyone present stopped in their tracks as the two young girls made an appearance.

As the smoke cleared from Lieutenant Hinamori's fireball, Ichigo stood up with clothes in tatters from the assaults. Just then a hole slightly larger than a fist opened up in his chest as a column of black reiatsu shot skyward, when it dissipated there stood a tall slender being with with straight orange hair down past the buttocks, white skin with red markings, two horns protruding from either temple pointing forward and slightly up with two thick crimson streaks running vertical over each eye and blood red fur around it's ankles, wrists and collar bone, wearing nothing but the shredded remains of a pair of black jeans and holding a wakizashi in it's left hand.

Yuzu clung to Karin's arm and hid slightly behind the raven haired teen, both backing up and bumping into a wall, alerting the hollowfied Ichigo to their presence. When the Ichigo turned his attention to the girls and took an attack stance a Garganta opened just behind the hollow possessed man who then turned his attention to Nel as she tackled him into the rift, followed by Rukia, Renji and the Vizards who jumped through just before it closed.

* * *

A matching Garganta opened in Hueco Mundo, twenty meters off the desert floor as a flailing Ichigo gripped tightly by Nel and near a dozen shinigami captains and lieutenants jumped out, the two hollows landing on the sand with the muffled thud.

Nel jumped up and leaped back from the hollowfied Ichigo as he stood up and took another attack stance.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted, "I know you can hear me, come on and snap out of it!"

Nel just shook her head, "It's no use now, he's too far gone. The transformation took place while he was still in a living body, there's no chance of the Ichigo we knew coming back."

"Ichigo is a fighter, we just have to give him a chance," Shinji offered.

Kensei cracked his knuckles, "This will be just like Vizard training, all we need to do is keep him occupied while Ichigo fights the hollow in his inner world."

"But-"

"Come on, have a little faith. If there's one thing I know is that Ichigo routinely defies possibility and surprised everyone," Renji interrupted Nel with a grin on his face.

She simply nodded as everyone prepared to defend against a massive cero the beast was about to launch at them.

* * *

Massacre. That was the only way to describe this scene. Kensei, Rukia, Shinji and Renji lay on the ground unconscious and everyone else save for Nel was either laying on sand tainted red by a liquid flowing from a broken body or was completely gone, no traces remaining.

Nel had released Gamuza not long after the fight began and had been the only one able to put up even a half-effective defense. Sode no Shirayuki had been sliced clean through by Ichigo, Renji's bankai completely destroyed and Shinji and Kensei had taken Bala enhanced punches with an already massive amount of force behind them to the solar plexus before they had even time to don their own masks.

Ichigo didn't even have a scratch on him after the ordeal, the beast just stood there radiating killing intent as he'd made quick work of some the best the Soul Society had to offer. The hollow possessed Ichigo turned his attention to Nel, as wisps of teal reiatsu flowed off her body. Reverting back to her humanoid form, Nel slumped to one knee using her zanpakuto to keep from collapsing entirely and breathing heavily.

The green haired woman looked up just in time to see Ichigo Sonido in front of her and raise his blade above his head, preparing to bring it down and end the arrancar's life. Ichigo's sword stopped just inches from the base of Nel's skull with a trembling hand.

"I-Ichi...go?" Nel managed in between heavy breaths.

Then his mask and white Hierro began to crack, Ichigo dropped the wakizashi and grabbed the sides of his head as a bestial cry escaped his mouth. First he grabbed the horns and broke them off one at a time and began clawing at the mask.

Nel watched in surprise as the figure continued to yell, the voice beginning to sound more and more like the human she knew, the human whom she had come to adore and befriended. The human that had stolen her heart, if she still had one. Then Ichigo stepped out of the white shell, revealing a more human coloration to his flesh, as it and the mask began to turn to dust and blow away.

Only one quarter of the mask remained over the right eye, stopping midway across the forehead and bridge of the nose with the bottom and crimson streak running diagonal from the cheekbone to jawbone, an eye with a black sclera and yellow iris could be seen through the eye hole, a portion of the white mask also extended back around the side of his head above the ear and over the temple, with the broken stub of a horn remaining.

Ichigo wore a white version of the standard shinigami hakama with a black sash and a white midriff jacket with long sleeves and black trim that didn't close all the way, revealing the hollow hole still on his chest. Ichigo's hair had become shorter but not by much, it was now just to above the lower back, revealing a wakizashi in a white scabbard that also had blood red fur adorning the top of it and a bronze end cap secured horizontal just below the lower back, hilt sticking out to the left.

"Ichigo..." Nel said softly, unsure if what she was seeing was reality.

Ichigo looked at the woman before him and smirked, "I did it, Nel. I won."

The expression on his face faded in an instant as Ichigo's eyes closed and he began to fall forward, unconscious.

Nel quickly mustered her strength to get up and darted over to catch Ichigo in her arms, pulling him into an embrace, and stroking the back of his head.

"Yes you did, Ichi, yes you did." Nel cooed gently into his ear, with tears streaming down her face.


	6. Confrontation

**A/N:** Okay, so this chapter became vastly different than how I originally had written in about 2 and a half weeks ago, I ended up rewriting basically the entire thing, causing it to become both shorter and missing some things I had intended for it to have. So to those of you I sent private messages to dropping hints of this chapter, I'd like to apologize if I got your hopes up and disappointed them with the follow chapter.

_All italic text is an inner monologue, or the thoughts of the characters._

Anyway, thank you to all reviewed, favorited and followed, feedback keeps me going and helps me improve, so please R&R and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Ichigo awoke with a screaming headache, lying on the sand in the vast desert that was Hueco Mundo. Ichigo turned his head to the left, to see other unconscious bodies lying on the ground. They were badly injured but still alive and breathing steadily.

_One, two, three, four..._

Four people, that was all that was left of Ichigo Kurosaki's allies now. Truth be told he wasn't complaining, that's four more than he'd had the previous day.

_Wait, there should be five. Where's Nel?_

Ichigo looked to the left to see the woman in a defensive stance ready to draw Gamuza at a moment's notice, she seemed to have been luckier than the others, exhaustion seemed to be her only injury. Maybe that was owing to the fact the woman was a hollow, and had extraordinary regenerative abilities. The newly created arrancar stood up, albeit with no small degree of discomfort and difficulty. He opened his mouth to speak as Nel held up a hand to hush Ichigo before he'd even begun, then she slowly backed up to where her partner was standing.

"I think we've been followed," She whispered, "I've been sensing a few different reiatsu for a while now, they feel like soul reapers."

Ichigo instinctively reached the hilt of his zanpakuto over his right shoulder but only succeeding in grabbing air, he looked up, wearing a look of slight frustration, to see there was in fact no sword there at all.

Nel giggled at the scene.

"On your lower back, left side," She whispered.

Ichigo reached back to draw the small sword in his left hand, holding the blade backwards with the tsuba flush against the heel of his hand. He scowled at the sight.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Nel opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Ichigo, "That was a rhetorical question."

Ichigo looked around, there were several broken or demolished stone towers around the area.

_This place seems familiar._

Then he remembered, this is where he'd fought Grimmjow for the final time, their deathmatch.

A black blur raced across the desert out of the corner of the young arrancar's vision.

"They're here," He said, confirming Nel's suspicions while flexing his right arm.

Ichigo continued to recall the battle, how Grimmjow hit him with a Cero more powerful than any he'd seen before.

_What did he call it?_

The orange haired hollow sliced the palm of his right hand.

_Mixing your own blood with a regular Cero..._

Just then a large ball of turquoise spirit energy began forming in the palm of his hand. Nel noticed what it was and used Sonido to get away only moments before it backfired and exploded, sending Ichigo flying several meters.

Nel ran over the man, struggling to get back to his feet and spoke softly, "Perhaps you shouldn't try to use the Gran Rey Cero until you're more familiar with your new powers."

Ichigo coughed a few times and brushed off his clothing.

"Yeah... I just had to try though," He returned with a smirk.

Nel held out her sword and spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, "Declare."

Teal smoke began to waft from the blade as a single shinigami instantly appeared by the unconscious group lying several meters away. Ichigo took a few steps back from Nel.

"Gamuza," She called, just then a surge of reiatsu washed over her, revealing a centuar with the upper body of a woman.

Captain Kuchiki stepped forward and spoke clearly to the pair, "I haven't come for a fight, I came to get these four," He gestured to Rukia, Renji, Kensei and Shinji, who were still out cold, "These four are guilty of treason and I'm simply here to take them back to the Soul Society."

"I don't give a damn why you're here, Byakuya. You tried to kill Nel, and you tried to kill me. You're not going anywhere until I repay the favor," Ichigo growled.

Nel spoke with a hint of worry in her voice, "Do you even know your Zanpakuto's name?"

Ichigo simply grinned widely.

"Who cares?" He said as he snapped the blade in half.

The centuar woman and the captain were both visibly surprised, and confused by this display. Just then the broken sword dissolved into black spirit energy and blew toward Ichigo by an imaginary wind, covering his entire body. When the remaining spirit energy 'blew away' there stood Ichigo in his fully hollowfied appearance wearing a black coat made of his reiatsu, reminiscent of his former bankai and holding a daitou in his right hand which was also made of spirit energy. The black blade had a long string of reiatsu hanging from the hilt, the excess being held like a rope in Ichigo's left hand.

"Ichigo, that looks like..." Before Nel could finish Ichigo used Sonido to appear behind the captain, surprising him the sheer speed of the movement. Byakuya barely had time to use Flash Step to dodge the vicious slash that came down to take his life.

"I see you've become faster than before, Kurosaki. However your speed will not be enough. Bankai." The raven haired captain said, as he dropped his sword, "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Ichigo relinquished the grip on his own sword, an the reiatsu evaporated.

"Giving up already? That is wise, but do not think that I will show mercy," Smug as ever, Byakuya flatly threatened his opponent as the mass of pink blades moved to strike. Ichigo held up two fingers and pointed them at the captain, almost immediately black spirit energy with a crimson glow began to coalesce at his fingertips, it grew to roughly twice the size of Ichigo's hand before he released it. The blast exploded forward, vaporizing the desert floor with it's sheer destructive power. Byakuya's eyes widened as the raging energy sped toward him, and he moved the microscopic blades to form a shield around himself and deflect the attack.

Just then the energy collided with it's target, kicking up sand and dust into the air. As the dust cleared a faint dripping sound could be heard and the silhouette of a man stood there, unmoving. When Byakuya finally came back into view all of his cherry blossom blades had fallen to the ground and blood dripped from his right arm, or rather, where his right arm used to be. All that remained was a stump that had been completely annihilated halfway up the bicep as the young captain gripped it with his left hand and wore an expression of shock on his face, Nel had one to match. She however, still had all her limbs.

"That's called a Cero Oscuras, my old friend Ulquiorra taught me that one," Ichigo spoke calmly, the signature warble distorting his natural voice. Then he gathered the energy back in his hands to form the black sword once more.

Byakuya gritted his teeth at the pain and spoke tensely, "It seems you are far more dangerous than we originally thought, Kurosaki. I shall kill you here and now before you can be allowed to cause any more damage. Senkei."

With that hundreds of swords appeared in a cylinder formation around the trio, trapping Ichigo and Nel in the Captain's attack. Ichigo began to swing the sword in his hands like a lasso as a clone of Senbonzakura appeared in Byakuya's only remaining hand. Everything moved in slow motion to Ichigo, he saw Byakuya prepare to Flash Step and released his sword, sending it flying at near the speed of sound, striking his opponent right in the gut.

Byakuya nearly doubled over, using Senbonzakura for support as he coughed up blood. Nel had resealed her own blade and was now watching in amazement as Ichigo, in his resurrección, almost effortlessly overpowered a captain of the Gotei 13 while using his bankai. Ichigo gave the reiatsu rope a quick flick of the wrist to pull the sword out, and threw it again, this time over Byakuya's head, and used Sonido to appear behing the captain and caught the sword, bringing it down in another vicious slash intended to kill. Byakuya wheeled around and blocked the attack with Senbonzakura, the force of the hit knocking him down. Now lying on his back the raven haired man brought up right foot to kick the hollow in the stomach and send it staggering back while he got to his feet.

"Bakudo number 4, Hainawa. Bakudo number 9, Geki. Bakudo number 61, Rikujkoro."

Three rapid fire binding spells all slammed into Ichigo at once, leaving him unable to attack for the time being.

The young captain stuck his sword in the sand to free his last good hand, and began to speak several incantations, "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end. Bakudo number 75, Gochutekkan. First Song – Halting Wrap, Second Song – Hundred Serial Bolts, Final Song – Full Ban Great Mount. Bakudo number 99, Bankin."

Ichigo stuggled violently against the bakudo spells and broke free in just a few seconds.

"Your spells are too weak with only one hand, even with the incantation," Ichigo said smugly, as he began swinging his sword by the reiatsu rope again, this time letting it fly in a way intended to cut, not to pierce. Byakuya quickly grabbed his own blade to deflect the incoming attack only to realize another black Cero had begin charging at Ichigo's fingertips.

_'I can't let him hit me with another one of those,'_ The Captain thought.

As the ball of dark energy grew to roughly the size of it's wielder's hand, Byakuya flash stepped, concentrating his own reiatsu into the blade of his sword and came up from underneath the unsuspecting arrancar and cut his arm off just below the elbow. Ichigo roared and kicked the captain right in the chest, sending him flying backwards nearly twenty meters. Then something happened that not even Ichigo expected to see, the severed arm instantly regenerated as though nothing had ever happened. Momentarily surprising all three in attendance. Ichigo regained himself quickly and gathered crimson spirit energy on his hand, charging at the captain and punching him square in the jaw with incredible force.

Byakuya summoned another sword from the wall surrounding them and swung at the orange haired hollow. Ichigo caught him by the wrist and violently wrenched the man's arm in an unnatural direction, shattering the bones, he simply grunted in pain and dropped Senbonzakura.

Ichigo rematerialized his sword out of thin air once more and moved behind the raven haired man, who was kneeling on the ground unable to fight back anymore. The arrancar brought his sword arm up, preparing to decapitate the young captain when a blast of cold wind hit him and flash froze his arm in place. To the left stood a petite woman holding a pure white zanpakuto.

"That's quite enough Ichigo, Nii-sama won't be bothering you anymore in his current state. Just allow him to go back to the Soul Society," Rukia stated firmly.

Byakuya scoffed, "I do not need pity, Rukia. I have lost this battle, my foolhardiness and underestimation of my opponent have cost me my life, get it over with, Kurosaki."

Ichigo surged his reiatsu and broke the ice, allowing for the use of his arm once more. Rukia simply lowered her sword, knowing full well she stood no chance of stopping the fiery headed man from doing what he was about to, so she closed her eyes and looked away, anticipating the moment.

"No," Ichigo said, voice returning to normal. The sword in his hand dissipating as the black cloak reformed itself into a wakizashi and solidified. Ichigo placed the blade back into it's sheath as his white Hierro cracked and a man stepped out, with a portion of the mask remaining on his face.

"I told you I'd return the favor, you only tried to kill me, so I only tried to kill you. You should do as your sister said and leave Hueco Mundo, you're in no condition to be fighting off any hollows your spiritual pressure attracts."

Ichigo was right, the captain had a useless left arm, was missing the right, could barely stand and was covered in blood and wounds with his clothing in tatters.

Senbonzakura resealed himself and appeared on Byakuya's waist as a Senkaimon opened behind the man. The elder Kuchiki got to his feet and stepped in without a word.

* * *

**_Things to note;_**

A daitou, or daitō, is a Japanese longsword, with a straight blade unlike a Katana, just like Ichigo's bankai as Nel implied.  
Ichigo's resurrección is unique as he is a special case. Since an Arrancar's zanpakuto is just a seal on their true form (in this case 'Hichigo'), Ichigo's new zanpakuto doesn't have a name, since his inner hollow had no name. Breaking the blade is symbolic, as if to break the seal on his powers.


	7. Aftermath

_**A/N:**_ Well here we are, you wanted updates and I delivered. I do believe my short break to work on Uppercut was just what this story needed, I personally feel this chapter is better than previous ones, but like always that's up to you, the readers, the be the judge of. R&R, let me know what you think!

* * *

Ichigo had been walking for what felt like days, when in reality it had only been a few hours. The walk to Las Noches somehow seemed more gruelling with an unconscious free loader slung over his shoulder. Truth be told, everyone had reservations about heading to the palace, but it was better than staying in the middle of a desert where there was only sand, sand, and more sand. Everyone except Renji that is, who still showed no signs of coming to any time soon as he hung limply over Ichigo's shoulder. The orange haired Arrancar was silently thanking nobody in particular that they were almost there when a dark skinned figure appeared before the group. Everyone's hand reflexively shot to their zanpakutō in response.

The dark skinned figure scanned the group before regarding Ichigo and speaking in a monotone voice, "Welcome to Las Noches, my lord."

Everybody looked around, thinking perhaps Aizen had escaped from whatever hole Central 46 threw him in after the war and was somehow standing behind them.

"I'm talking to you, Ichigo Kurosaki." The woman said while pointing to the man with a broken hollow mask on his face.

"Me? What's with the 'my lord' business then?"

"The title of Lord of Las Noches has always gone to the strongest hollow in Hueco Mundo, and now that you're here, that's no longer me. I don't need to walk a mile in that other Soul Reaper's shoes to know that."

As soon as the woman had finished speaking Ichigo laid Renji down on the sand and immediately after the unmistakeable buzz of a Sonído rang out, he then appeared in front of the dark skinned woman bringing a fist up to strike her in the stomach, only to stop short due to the point of a sword being lightly pressed into the left side of his neck. Ichigo grinned widely, dodged to the side and fell to the ground, supporting himself on his right hand and swept the female Arrancar's legs out from under her with his own. As the woman lost her balance and began to fall her opponent grabbed her sword hand and made sure she kept a firm grip on it's hilt as he forced her arm to point the blade at her own neck then brought his knee up to place his entire body weight on the woman's stomach.

"Guess you were right, I am stronger." Ichigo said, with a tinge of superiority in his voice.

"Don't be so sure of yourself." With those words the woman pinned to the ground punched the orange haired man in the ribs, a Bala exploding as she did so. Once her opponents weight was lessened she moved at top speed to escape, Ichigo read her movements almost effortlessly and arrived behind where the woman had fled to a fraction of a second before she did. With a surprised look the dark skinned woman swung back with Tiburón. Ichigo caught her wrist and twisted it in such a way as to force her to drop the sword, as he did so he also forced the woman onto her knees, grabbed her other wrist and held them both straight back as he placed a foot on her back to ensure she wouldn't be going anywhere. Then he opened his mouth and a crimson ball of spirit energy began to form, after about a second it had grown to nearly double the size of the man's head. Ichigo released the Cero over the woman's head and the blast decimated one of the granite towers that sprung up from the sand in this part of the desert, leaving a cleanly hewn stub behind with a concave wound on the top of it.

Everyone stared at the two in shock, while the woman pinned to the ground broke into a cold sweat and partook in quite a bit of nervousness at the realization that she could have been destroyed leaving not so much as a shred of clothing behind as evidence she's ever existed at all as easily as crushing an ant if the Arrancar behind her hadn't pulled his punch.

"Just proving a point." Ichigo said indifferently, while letting the woman go and extending a helping hand. His thoroughly defeated opponent shakily took it and was then pulled to her feet. With her legs still a little shaky the woman stumbled forward and places her hands on Ichigo's chest to brace against a fall. That position lasted only a moment as she quickly righted herself and stood on her own power. Ichigo turned back to face Nel and began walking, enduring a glare from green haired woman that surely would have bore a hole straight through him had there not already been one in his chest. Ichigo tried to ignore it but it still somehow made him uncomfortable all the same.

"So, you saw my fight with Byakuya?" He said, jumping back into the line of conversation from a few moments ago once he'd returned to Nel's side, who in turn possessively put her arm through his.

Once the other female Arrancar got herself back in order from the duel that could be measured in seconds, she spoke as if nothing ever happened, "Did you really think the man who defeated Aizen could enter Hueco Mundo and not attract attention?"

Ichigo frowned, "So you've been spying on us since we got here?"

"More or less. When we felt another Espada release their zanpakutō I became interested, so I sent someone to investigate and they found you, transformed into a hollow, taking on ten Shinigami and an Arrancar," She said while glancing at Nel before looking back to Ichigo, "And winning."

"Just who the hell are you?"

"My name is Tia Halibel," The woman answered, and unzipped her top, revealing a large, black number three.

Ichigo glanced at Nel, silently asking why the two had the same number tattooed on their bodies.

"She must have replaced me as the Tres Espada after I left Las Noches, I don't recall that name." Came the explanation.

Nel then regarded Halibel, "How did Nnoitora take it when another woman took my place?"

"That fool? He nearly got himself killed challenging me to prove men were stronger."

The green haired woman chuckled, "That certainly sounds like him."

"Oi! You two can gossip later," Ichigo complained.

"Apologies, my lord." Halibel said, lightly bowing her head.

Ichigo just raised an eyebrow, while Nel shot him another glare he pretended not to notice.

"Whatever, so I'm like the king of a desert full of mindless hollows now? That doesn't sound very prestigious." Ichigo complained some more.

"There are still some Arrancar that survived the war. Aside from myself and Nelliel, Grimmjow, my facciónes and some of the números are left."

"Grimmjow? I thought Nnoitora killed him after our duel."

"When we found him he was alive, but barely. We should go inside, it looks like your friends need their wounds taken care of." Halibel offered.

Ichigo glanced around, she was right, everybody but Nel looked worse for wear. "Right, let's go then."

* * *

Ichigo sat on a bed in one of the private rooms in Las Noches, the room was quite spacious and elegant with a rather high ceiling which was made of white marble, as were the walls and floors. The man sat without his jacket, inspecting his arm which he was certain had been cut off earlier in the day. Despite that fact, not even a scar could be found. Nel reached up and began to run her slender fingers over his forearm as well, joining in the search for an injury that didn't even exist.

"Nel," Ichigo crooned.

The woman being addressed looked up, "Hm?"

"Why do you keep sticking your neck out for me?"

"What do you mean?" She asked in return, confused.

"I mean you took the risk of coming to the Human World, and you even fought off multiple captains more than once for my sake. You even fought me while I was fully hollowfied along with the Vizards. I ended up killing most of the people who turned their backs on the Soul Society for me, and you didn't once back down despite not being obligated to stick with me."

Nel gulped at the sudden interest in her motives. She could feel her face heat up, she wasn't sure if it took on a pinkish color to reflect that, but if it did she hoped it blended with the crimson mark running across her cheeks and nose so as to become unnoticeable. The green haired woman moved her hand down meet Ichigo's and squeezed tightly while looking down.

"Well I..." She began softly, before a light nudge on her chin directed her to meet the gaze of the man in front of her. Nel began to lean towards Ichigo tentatively, electing to express herself with actions in lieu of words as the door flew open and a man with red hair came barging in.

"Ichigo!" He shouted, before realizing his blunder, "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"Not any more." Nel said coldly, getting up from the bed walking briskly past the intruder.

"What crawled up her ass?"

Ichigo just shot him a look that told him to watch his step, "What do you want, Pineapple?"

"I think we've been kidnapped, there are a bunch of Espada in here."

"You idiot, we weren't kidnapped we came here because it was better than sitting in the middle of an ocean of sand twiddling our thumbs. If you had been awake and I didn't have to carry you here you'd have known that." Ichigo griped.

Renji opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a woman in a white dress with sleeves that were several inches too long.

"Lord Kurosaki, Lady Halibel requests to speak with you."

"Yeah sure, tell her I'll be there in a minute."

Sung-sun bowed her head and left, leaving Renji in a state of confusion brought on by the first two words out of her mouth.

"_Lord_ Kurosaki? Just where the hell are we?"

"We're in Las Noches. Apparently I've been appointed the King of Hueco Mundo by the surviving Espada. If you had been awake on the way here you'd have known that too. Come on, I'll explain on the way." Ichigo replied.

* * *

Byakuya Kuchiki lie in a bed in the Fourth Division barracks with a team of seated officers, and even Captain Unohana herself standing around him putting all they had into healing Kidō. The man had lost quite a bit of blood and collapsed almost immediately after returning to the Seireitei, having to be transported there in Minazuki's stomach. His wounds were severe but nothing unrecoverable, it would just take some elbow grease on the part of the medics. Shinigami were tougher to kill than humans after all, and the Nobleman was so stubborn he probably wouldn't die if you cut him into little pieces. One need only look at him to see evidence of that bullheadedness he'd regained consciousness shortly after he was being carried inside and had attempted to get up and leave, only allowing anybody to work on him after having been securely tied down against his will.

As the medics were starting to ease up they focused on patching up individual wounds, of which there were many, instead of just trying to keep him breathing, two Hell Butterflies floated into the room, one for each captain present. They relayed a message of an urgent meeting for all Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and their lieutenants. Having regained some of his strength, Byakuya forced his way out of the restraints and stood, this time with a great deal less difficulty and pain.

"Just where do you think you're going, Captain Kuchiki?" A tall woman with black hair done up in a braid hanging down her chest asked rhetorically.

Byakuya snorted at the question as though his very existence had just been questioned, "Where do you think? I am going to the assembly."

"You're in no shape to go anywhere."

"I am well enough. Besides, I have first hand information about Kurosaki as he is currently, it is imperative that I should relay this information if he is to be dealt with effectively," The Noble retorted.

Unohana pondered for a moment before agreeing, "Very well, but I shall accompany you there in case you open any wounds in your stubbornness."

"I do not need a babysitter." No sooner had the words left the man's mouth than he'd taken a step forward and stumbled, as if his body strove to contradict his words.

The elder captain simply smiled at her colleague, who in turn shot back a death glare which had no real effect on the woman, given that she was indisputably the queen of glares even if the fact weren't written in stone. The Kuchiki noble had been fitted with a new pair of pants as his old ones were shredded, a top and his haori were nowhere to be seen, given the implied urgency of the meeting he elected to just go with the bandages wrapped around his torso and arms as an impromptu shirt, blood had already begun to soak in revealing spots of red on the outside.

Unsurprisingly Captains Unohana and Kuchiki were the last to arrive, everyone glaring at the latter as he walked in with a limp. The Captain of the Sixth Division ignored the stares and took up a place in one of the two columns of Shinigami, being the only other one aside from Ukitake who was missing a lieutenant.

An elderly man at the head of both columns spoke, "It looks like everyone is here. Let us begin. Captain Kuchiki, I take it from your injuries you have crossed paths with Kurosaki?"

"Yes, I pursued the traitors into Hueco Mundo as instructed, whereupon my reiatsu was detected by the female Arrancar known as Nel. Once Kurosaki regained consciousness I made my presence known and stated I wasn't there to fight. He completely disregarded my words and launched a surprise attack."

"He couldn't have been that strong, he only barely beat you when he invaded the Soul Society to stop Rukia's execution, he's not even a Soul Reaper any more." Hitsugaya said.

"Kurosaki is no longer human either." Byakuya replied.

Hitsugaya snapped back a reply, as if his intelligence had been insulted, "I am aware of that, I watched him turn into a hollow myself."

"Kurosaki is an Arrancar, much more powerful than any of the Espada we faced during the Winter War."

The words 'how interesting' could be heard from a man with blue hair and an absurdly ostentatious head ornament.

"How is that possible? Has he gotten a hold of the Hōgyoku?" Hitsugaya questioned.

"No, I assure you that hasn't happened." A man with light blond hair and a green and white striped hat said.

"Kisuke, what in the world are you doing here?" Kurotsuchi sounded displeased.

"I came bearing an explanation, among other things." The blond man put his fan away, which was previously hiding his face, "Ichigo became an Arrancar in a similar fashion to Grand Fisher, by force. Once his inner hollow consumed his body Ichigo fought against it in his inner world and absorbed it's soul, undoing the possession but turning him into a hollow in the process, and ultimately an Arrancar was the final outcome."

"Well that's quite obvious. Anyone with half of a brain stem could have deduced that." Mayuri said, unamused. Likewise were the rest of the captains who simply ignored his superiority complex.

The Head Captain chimed in again, "This is indeed troublesome. Now that we've tried to do away with the boy he would undoubtedly hold a grudge. We will need all the help we can get for the coming storm. Please send in the Substitute Soul Reaper."

Whispers and hushed chatters broke out, and then moments later a woman who looked to be in her early twenties walked in, she was of average height with long black hair and blue eyes.

Yamamoto addressed the young Shinigami, "Miss Arisawa, I have a task for you."


End file.
